Over the weekend Valve has announced they have nixed the Black Box package for Half-Life 2: Episode Two, which was to include a copy of Portal, Team Fortress 2 and Half- Life 2: Episode Two. Instead, retail gamers will be forced to purchased the higher priced Orange Box which contains the new titles as well as a copy of Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One. This is quite an extraordinary turn of events, as most gamers that are looking forward to Valve's forthcoming three titles are more than likely to already own the previous two.

The good news about spending more money is that the package will come with three separate Steam activation codes, so if you already have a copy of HL2 and Episode One, you'll be able to give them away to a friend or family member.


The Orange Box of Half-Life 2 goodies will be hitting retail outlets later this year.